English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, September 27, 2022 — Havana woke up this Tuesday with the rains and winds that Ian had been leaving in the Cuban territory for hours, but people on the street seemed not to have heard that the hurricane that was coming and was of considerable intensity. The food shortage in … Continue reading “Hurricane Ian’s Winds Leave Havana in the Dark and More Depleted of Supplies”
Thanks to everyone who worried about us. We are fine. It has been hard: part of our house was flooded, we suffered very intense gusts of wind and we felt a lot of fear, but now the rain and the wind are decreasing. Our Newsroom has only suffered minor damage and in our neighborhood we can see … Continue reading “Hurricane Ian Moves On, While the Damage is Just Being Assessed in Cuba”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez and Herodes Díaz, Havana/Santiago de Cuba, 25 September 2022 — In the early hours of this Sunday morning there was a notably small turnout in the voting centers for the referendum on the Family Code, and the majority of the voters were elderly, according to 14ymedio reporters in Havana and Santiago … Continue reading “Cubans Are More Concerned About Hurricane Ian Than About Voting in the Referendum”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 February 2023 — With the credit of 111 million dollars, offered by Russia to Cuba in 2017, the integral repair of Antillana de Acero has been achieved. Now, the experts say that it remains to be seen how, in a country that lives to the rhythm of blackouts, the enormous amount of … Continue reading “The 111 Million Dollar Russian Loan to Cuba Revives Antillana de Acero, a Huge Energy Consumer”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 October 2022 — While the Cuban regime devotes a lot of energy to make believe that the shortage of food on the Island is due to the Washington embargo, mass imports of chicken from the United States continue and, above all, the humanitarian donations of that country are growing, which in the … Continue reading “Despite the Embargo, U.S. Humanitarian Donations to Cuba are Growing”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 October 2022 — With the mobilization of police officers, State Security agents dressed in civilian clothes and military service recruits armed with sticks, the authorities responded on Saturday night to the popular protests on the fifth day without electricity in several municipalities of Havana. The cacerolazos [banging on pots … Continue reading “Repression Breaks Out in Cuba in the Face of the Increasing Protests on the Fifth Day of the Post-Hurricane Blackout”
14ymedio, Eliás Amor Bravo, 30 September 2022 — It is not clear that getting everyone to pitch in is what is needed, or the most efficient way to restore normalcy in the aftermath of a hurricane. Though there are more appropriate ways of dealing with natural disasters, Cuba’s communist regime still prefers to rely on … Continue reading “The Post-Hurricane Landscape”
14ymedio, Madrid, 28 September 2022 — In the midst of absolute darkness on the Island, Cuban Television, in a special report at midnight this Wednesday, updated information about the general blackout, from which only citizens who had electric generators were spared. The technical director of the Electric Union, Lázaro Guerra, explained that the thermal power … Continue reading “Technicians are Trying to Restore Electricity in Cuba, at ‘Total Zero’ Since Last Night”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 26 September 2022 — The goal of this blog is to focus on economic matters in Cuba. But from time to time, it’s necessary to pay attention to events that arise in reality, due to their immediate impact on the economy. And so, while Cubans were summoned by the regime, … Continue reading “The Two Hurricanes That Threaten the Cuban Economy”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 16 September 2019 — Each dictator celebrates the inaugurations of what they can, or what they leave. There is a close relationship between authoritarian power and political celebratory openings. In the case of Franco, it was common to see him in the “News and Documentaries” — known as No-Do — inaugurating reservoirs for the … Continue reading “Of Inaugurations and Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Tourism in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 20 December 2018 — It wasn’t enough for them to extinguish social protests with blood and fire, nor to imprison hundreds of young people for exercising their right to protest. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo needed to go further. In December of this year, the Nicaraguan police assaulted the offices … Continue reading “The Nicaraguan Press in the Eye of the Hurricane”
The Cuban Economy, Elias Amor Bravo, 27 August 2018 – Someone asks a naive question in Granma today: “Can a policy be more harmful than a hurricane?” The answer is yes, of course a policy can cause irreparable damage to a society by its application. The most obvious example is the policy practiced by the Cuban communist … Continue reading “Much More Damaging Than a Hurricane: Expropriations Without Compensation”
14ymedio, Ignacio de la Paz, Baracoa, 2 March 2018 — The darkness envelops Baracoa as the bus arrives at the main station. Despite the power outage, a swarm of people approaches to offer the new arrivals rooms for rent and taxis. Before arriving at the terminal, the vehicle loaded with tourists must avoid the bumps of the … Continue reading “Baracoa Struggles to Survive Hurricane Matthew”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2017 — In the years of greater political closeness between the Soviet Union and Cuba several products arrived from the distant Eurasian country to fill the shelves of the stores on the island. Matryoshka dolls adorned thousands of living rooms throughout the country and the national tables were full of dishes … Continue reading “‘Russian Meat’ Returns To Cuba But It Is Brazilian”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 October 2017 — Carl-Michel Cloutier, a Quebecois married to a Cuban and a frequent traveler to the island, plans never to return after his last experience. The Canadian was arrested, interrogated, had his belongings confiscated and was threatened with prison and never leaving the country, after coming to the island with humanitarian … Continue reading “Quebecois Arrested in Cuba for Bringing Hurricane Aid Without Going Through the Government”
